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Garrett Confirms Move to Phase-out Plastic Bags
January 10th 2008
Environment Minister Peter Garrett has confirmed that he will move to phase out plastic check-out bags "by the end of the year" – if necessary with a legislative ban.
The move follows the announcement by the Chinese Government that they will ban the giving away of free plastic bags by June.
Published in the Sydney Morning Herald, the confirmation means that 4 billion less plastic bags could end up in Australia’s landfills and environment ever year. See story at http://www.smh.com.au/news
The move has been welcomed by Planet Ark Founder Jon Dee, who has campaigned for five years to ban plastic bags in Australia.
The phase out is likely to take one of two forms. It could either be through a levy, where a charge is put on each plastic bag, or via an outright ban.
In Ireland, their levy has reduced the usage of plastic check-out bags by more than 90%. In Australia, Bunnings have reduced their usage of plastic bags by over 99% by charging 10 cents per plastic bag. Retailers like IKEA and the ALDI supermarket chain are already charging for plastic bags in Australia.
Australian towns like Coles Bay have also shown that a community-wide ban on plastic bags can work without impacting on local retailers.
The move to eradicate plastic bags will mean that retailers will need to start making plans to introduce more reusable bags and paper bags. “This ban will hopefully encourage more retailers to start using reusable and paper bags,” said Dee.
“At the moment, billions of plastic bags are imported from overseas. If we switch to using paper bags made here in Australia, it will not just help the environment – it will help to boost our economy and potentially increase jobs too.”
“For too long, plastic bags have been an environmental menace, wasting resources and killing marine life, birds and other animals. This move by the Government is a big win for the environment that will be welcomed by the millions of Australians who have bought and used reusable bags and paper bags in recent years.”
Dee sees no problems with the phase out timeline that has been proposed.
“China uses more plastic bags every week than Australia uses in a year”, said Dee. “If the Chinese can ban the giving away of free plastic bags by June, then there’s no reason why Australia cannot ban them by the end of this year.”
